—BRIEF--
drawing world borders
4 minute starting point
2 questions for thought
7 ways others participate
background
To organize resources like food and material, we drew pictures of land and water, deciding what belonged to who by adding lines to them.
As humans evolved to wander and land shifted into pieces, we started creating civilizations, or societies, to survive and explore by living and working together.
We created words to describe what we saw to make sense of the societies we were creating.
*Note: definitions were written to be similar to be easier to describe. They were created based on descriptions from Merriam-Webster, Oxford Languages, Wikipedia, and World Atlas.
- Borders "facilitate and constrain human interaction," explains international-affairs professor Harvey Starr in JSTOR, a library of academic research owned by Ithaka Harbors, "in times of conflict and peace."
- Advancements in communication, weapons, and transportation made border lines less strict over time, explains Starr, but they continued to provide a structure to identify who's where and has what.
- In a nutshell: borders create boundaries to help us be organized and provide a sense of certainty around the way we connect with each other.
As humans evolved to wander and land shifted into pieces, we started creating civilizations, or societies, to survive and explore by living and working together.
- We searched land and made discoveries, explains mapmaker Ollie Bye for YouTube, a social media company owned by Google, and created ideas and laws about 'how to be' to cooperate.
- Sometimes we disagreed over who could be where and have what, shows Bye, which led to the lines on our pictures changing over time too.
We created words to describe what we saw to make sense of the societies we were creating.
- A territory is physical space made up of land, water, and air.
- A continent is land separated from other land by water.
- A country is territory recognized under international law. This means the territory has borders that aren't disagreed over, a government that manages the area, and people who are citizens.
- A state is the technical term for a country. It can also be used to describe territory with border lines that are disagreed over, or, a smaller country within a country.
- A nation is a group of people who share values, language, religion, and/or ethnicity. A nation may or may not be a country or state and the people may or may not be citizens because they can live in different places.
- A nation-state is a technical term for a country whose citizens values, language, religion, and/or ethnicity. This means it's like a country + a nation.
*Note: definitions were written to be similar to be easier to describe. They were created based on descriptions from Merriam-Webster, Oxford Languages, Wikipedia, and World Atlas.
what happened
Grouping things together created a structure to cooperate in bigger ways.
Managing borders can lead to violence if disagreements can't be solved through communication.
The ancient practice of making maps to define physical space is similar to how we're defining virtual space today.
- To get along after World War II, countries agreed to create a system of cooperation, explains environmental-planning professor Saleem Ali for TEDx, a public-speaking media company owned by the TED Foundation. This system was called the United Nations.
- The work of the United Nations, explains Ali, strengthened the idea of borders as we know them today.
- In other words: borders became less about the natural movement of life, like mountains and water, and more about organizing territory to resolve conflict between people.
- Many countries, states, and nations were created through this system. And it's helped us make decisions and negotiate peace, explains Ali with examples from history. But it's led to disagreements too.
Managing borders can lead to violence if disagreements can't be solved through communication.
- Soldiers use different military strategies when instructed to take over a territory, explains politics and news journalist Sophie Hayssen for Frame, an interactive digital magazine funded by subscribers and Snapchat.
- One military strategy that's used take over territory is sexual violence. This is done to break people's spirits and 'cleanse' an ethnicity from a population
- Sexual violence is defined as a weapon of war by the United Nations, explains Hayssen, which means it's illegal. But it's one of the most underreported and can be difficult to confirm.
The ancient practice of making maps to define physical space is similar to how we're defining virtual space today.
- Borders are by design, but they're less about civilian life and more about military force, argues design journalist and society scholar Walter Mariotti for domus, a design and architecture magazine owned by Editoriale Domus.
- This means that lines on maps, and the meaning we give them following a conflict, have become more true than what we see with our physical eyes.
- In the same way, the metaverse might represent a virtual space, says Mariotti, but that doesn't make it less real. Like physical spaces, virtual spaces are being designed for commodification, which means organizing products and services to sell, buy, and own.
what's next
Open borders can provide a shortcut to a wealthier world for all, but it’s complicated.
More than half the Earth’s surface hasn’t been mapped yet, and that's changing.
A melting Arctic Sea means previously frozen territory is becoming available for the first time.
Clouds (the online storage kind) are being reshaped by technology companies as government laws about data change.
- “When we patiently and calmly study immigration,” explains economics professor Bryan Caplan for Foreign Policy, a world economics magazine owned by Graham Holdings Company, “the main thing we observe is people moving from places where their talent goes to waste to places where they can realize their potential.”
- Humans are more productive, explains Caplan with examples from history, in places that offer better access to resources that make day-to-day living better.
- When we resist immigration, says Caplan with examples from history, it's less about logic and more about culture. This means worrying newcomers won’t learn the language, will be prone to crime, and won't respect the local culture.
More than half the Earth’s surface hasn’t been mapped yet, and that's changing.
- Having an accurate ocean map is good for “curiosity, science, and navigation,” explains cartography journalist Frank Jacobs for Big Think, a multimedia publication about culture and history owned by FreeThink Media. Cartography is the study of drawing maps.
- Mapping the ocean’s floor will predict the weather more accurately, help develop infrastructure like cables and pipes to distribute goods and services, and protect underwater life. (More on this under "How others participate")
A melting Arctic Sea means previously frozen territory is becoming available for the first time.
- Access to natural resources and shipping routes will create opportunities for energy, farming, trade, and tourism, explains journalist Samanth Subramanian for Quartz, a business news website owned by G/O Media. But, how we handle this area will determine our future on Earth.
- Under international law, the Arctic is controlled by Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Russia, and the United States. All of these countries are members of the Arctic Council.
- The Arctic Council is an organization that's co-run by these countries to promote cooperation between members, indigenous Arctic communities, and “observers” (nations interested in the area) including China.
- As the Arctic transforms, explains Subramanian with examples from history, it may lead to conflict because the area is rich with natural resources and is a valuable location for shipping goods.
Clouds (the online storage kind) are being reshaped by technology companies as government laws about data change.
- Depending on the privacy and data laws of a country, virtual borders and data centres are created, explains The Economist, a British newspaper about society and business owned by The Economist Group. This is done to make sure certain data can or can't leave and enter certain countries, based on their laws.
- The original idea behind data was to flow freely, but cloud makers might need to add “data zones” to their maps, explains the publication, to keep track of where and how digital information can move around the world.
questions for thought
1. If borders were hard, or more controlled, how would we manage universal situations like access to food and energy sources, balancing workers with jobs, and protecting life (animals, plants, people) from harm?
2. If borders were soft, or more open, how would we organize services funded by people like water, electricity, parks, streets, healthcare, and schools?
2. If borders were soft, or more open, how would we organize services funded by people like water, electricity, parks, streets, healthcare, and schools?
"Drawing Borders" by Bentley F. | proactivecitizen.org
how others participate
A group of scientists are creating a system to organize data about the Arctic.
Another group of scientists are creating a system to map the ocean floor.
Groups of people are created to conduct investigations on conflict and provide recommendations for action.
An engineer, scholar, and investor wrote a book about creating countries virtually.
A business graduate created a company to make the future of technology easier to learn about and get involved in.
Online mapmakers personalize maps depending on who’s looking at them.
A geography fan created a map to show how borders were created and have changed throughout history.
- University scholars and data managers are creating a national network of information to study and understand the Arctic and be able to make decisions based on evidence.
- The network is called the Canadian Consortium for Arctic Data Interoperability (CCADI). It is a cyberinfrastructure project funded by the Canadian Foundation of Innovation (CFI), which is a non-profit funded by the Government of Canada to support research in universities.
- Cyberinfrastructure is a virtual system that collects, stores, and shares online information, or data.
Another group of scientists are creating a system to map the ocean floor.
- Ocean scientists and mapping experts are creating an open-source, free map of the oceans by exploring unmarked water through a project called Seabed 2030.
- Seabed 2030, a research initiative led and funded by the Nippon Foundation in Japan and the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) in England, invites governments, companies, non-profits, and schools around the world with existing ocean data to join the initiative and make the data public.
Groups of people are created to conduct investigations on conflict and provide recommendations for action.
- The United Nations gathers people with connections to a conflict and they work together to confirm and resolve issues. These groups and what they do are called commissions.
- Details about each commission, and contact information to get involved, are available to the public through the UN's Human Rights Council website.
- Individuals and organizations outside of the commission can review what's going on and share intelligence, or information, if they want.
- Currently, commissions exist for conflicts in the Ukraine, Venezuela, Myanmar, Tigray, and more.
An engineer, scholar, and investor wrote a book about creating countries virtually.
- Balaji Srinivasan believes instead of improving the structures that shape our nations, states, and countries, it's better (for some) to start from scratch through an idea called a network-state.
- A network-state is a group of people who share values and pool their resources, ideas, and connections to build a country and participate in world affairs.
- The difference between this idea and current ideas for organizing life is that citizens of a network-state can live separately by using advanced technology to organize their resources, ideas, and connections.
A business graduate created a company to make the future of technology easier to learn about and get involved in.
- Sinead Bovell helps entrepreneurs and young people learn about the future and find careers in technology through WAYE.
- WAYE offers free and paid resources including public talks, social-media content, one-on-one advice, and networking groups to "change the narrative on who should be talking tech."
Online mapmakers personalize maps depending on who’s looking at them.
- Technology companies offering map services redraw borders, rename landmarks, and identify border disputes, explains artificial-intelligence reporter Greg Bensinger for the Washington Post, an American newspaper owned by Nash Holdings LLC, a company created by Jeff Bezos. They do this to match local and global law and culture.
- Being neutral to politics minimizes the impact on business, explains Bensinger, but sometimes mapmakers are pressured by governments to make adjustments.
A geography fan created a map to show how borders were created and have changed throughout history.
- “I tried to find the date of origin for every international border," explains @pisseguri82 for reddit, a social media company owned by Advance Publications.
- The hobby mapmaker says the visual overview is imperfect, due to missing evidence, but hopes it "gives an interesting look into how the concept of modern borders has spread throughout the world."
names are only the guests of reality.
–hsu yu